Intravenous feeding container and method of preparing the same

ABSTRACT

An intravenous feeding container composed of flexible material and containing a quantity of water soluble material for the preparation of an intravenous solution to be fed to a patient, the container being normally storable in a folded, flat condition. The container has a buoyant check valve at its outlet. The method of preparing intravenous feeding containers, wherein sterile water is displaced from a water supply into a normally folded, flat container having water soluble material therein, forming with said water an intravenous feeding solution.

United States Patent Gardner Mar. M, 11972 [54] INTRAVENOUS FEEDINGCONTAINER 2,879,767 3/1959 Kulick ..l28/272 AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE3,030,955 4/1962 Gossett et aI. .128/272 SAME FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 1721 lnvemofi Gardner, 11661 San Vicente 7,291 1908 GreatBritain v.128/225 Blvd., Los Angeles, Cahf. 90049 22 Filed: 1 19 9Primary Examiner-Hugh R. Chamblee AttameyBemard Kriegel [211 App]. No.:846,777

, ABSTRACT [52] U.S.Cl. .,..l28/272, 128/214 D An intravenous feedingcontainer composed of flexible [51] Int. Cl. A6lj 1/00 a erial andcontaining a quantity of water soluble material [58 Field of Search..12s/272, 227,225, 274, 21412, vfor the Preparation of an intravenousSolution I9 be fed 19 123/214 C, 21 My 214 137/192; 215/11 D patient,the container being normally storable in a folded, flat condition. Thecontainer has a buoyant. check valve at its out- [56] References Citedlet. The method of preparing intravenous feeding containers, whereinsterile water is displaced from a water supply into a UNITED STATESPATENTS normally folded, flat container having water soluble material1,718,593 6/1929 Smith ..12s/272 fmming with Said an intravenous feedingSol- 2,693,801 11/1954 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures INTRAVENOUS FEEDINGCONTAINER AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME In the treatment of patientsfor various ailments and injuries, it is the practice to intravenouslyfeed the patientan aqueous solution containing salt, glucose, orprotein, or a combination thereof. Such practice involves the problem ofstorage of the solution in bottles, generally of one liter capacity.

In use, the bottle is hung in an elevated position close to the patient,and the solution is fed to the patient through a flexible tube leadingto a needle inserted into a vein of the patient.

The storage of bottles of intravenous feeding solutions in hospitals,and particularly military field hospitals, or other remote locations,requires substantial storage space. In addition, there is the everpresent danger of breakage of the bottles and loss of the feedingsolution.

In order to avoid these problems, the present invention provides areceptacle or container composed of flexible plastic material capable ofstorage in a flat condition, thereby effecting a substantial saving inthe required storage space, as well as simplifying delivery of thecontainers or receptacles to remote locations.

The container or receptacle has the necessary quantity of water solublematerial therein which, when mixed with sterile water, will provide thedesired volume of intravenous feeding solution. Since the container orreceptacle is composed of flexible or plastic material, it issusceptible of storage in a small space, and, also, the receptacle orcontainer cannot be readily damaged. The receptacle or container is freefrom the danger of breakage even if it should be inadvertently droppedor knocked down when in use. Thus, there is the reduced danger of theloss of intravenous solution as well as the elimination of the danger ofbroken bottle fragments.

More particularly, the invention provides a plastic or other resilientcontainer or receptacle containing a quantity of water soluble materialsadapted, when mixed with sterile water, to provide a quantity ofintravenous feeding solution, wherein the receptacle contains a checkvalve cooperable with the container outlet to form a seal when thecontainer or receptacle is emptied during use. Such a constructionavoids the necessity of an attendants vigil to prevent emptying of theusual intravenous feeding bottle and the potential passage of air fromthe receptacle into a patients vein.

In the use of the flexible container or receptacle, it is adapted to becharged with sterile water from a convenient source of sterile water,such as the discharge from a water sterilizing plant, or moreparticularly, from a storage drum of sterile water. In the use of astorage drum to supply sterile water to the flexible intravenous feedingcontainer, the container is adapted, by the utilization of a rubber orrubber-like stopper, to have a needle injected into the discharge end ofthe container, the needle being in fluid communication with a tubeleading into the sterile water drum. Sterile water is displaced from thedrum through the tube and into the intravenous feeding container by theapplication of air under pressure into a flexible sack or bag containedin the drum.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other purposeswhich may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of a formin which it may be embodied. This form is shown in the drawingsaccompanying and forming part of the present specification. It and itsmethod of use will now be described in detail, for the purpose ofillustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to beunderstood that such detailed description is not to be taken in alimiting sense.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation, with a portion broken away, illustratingan intravenous feeding container made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in elevation, with parts broken away, illustrating theintravenous solution in the container and further illustrating thefunction of the buoyant check valve; and

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the intravenous feeding container and asterile water supply drum, a portion of which is broken away, forfilling the container.

As seen in the drawings, an intravenous feeding receptacle or containerC is in the form of a generally rectangular resilient, or flexibleplastic, hollow body having a tab 1 at one end provided with an opening2 for hanging the container C from the usual intravenous feeding bottlesupport (not shown), which is normally composed of a stand provided witha hook for suspending the intravenous bottle in inverted positionadjacent to a patient. At its other end, the container C has a neck 3providing a discharge opening 4. A stopper 5 closes the dischargeopening 4, this stopper being composed of resilient or rubber-likematerial adapted to be pierced by a hollow needle. The body portion 6 ofthe container C may be of any desired configuration, but, within thepurview of the present invention, it is composed of a suitable, flexibleplastic material, enabling it to be stored in a flat condition, much inthe manner of a rubber or rubber-like hot water bottle.

Within the container C is a ball check valve 7 adapted to form a seal inthe throat 8 of the neck 3 of the container C the throat having a valveseat portion. Also within the container is a quantity of water solublematerial 9, which may comprise such dry nutrients, in powder or granularform, as glucose, protein or salt, or a combination thereof, adaptedwhen con tacted by sterile water of the desired volume to provide thedesired quantity and concentration of intravenous feeding solution.

As seen in FIG. 2, a tube 10 is provided with a hollow needle 11 adaptedto be inserted through the stopper 5 of the container C so as to conductsterile water into the container and form the desired solution. The ballcheck valve 7 is buoyant in the solution and will float thereon until,in use, the ball check valve seats in the throat 8 in the neck 3 of thecontainer C as shown in broken lines, with a small quantity of liquidstill present in the throat 8.

The neck 3 of the container is elongated so that the opening 4 is ofsufficient length to accommodate a needle, such as the needle 11,without contact between the ball check valve 7 and the inner end of theneedle 11 when the valve is seated. In this connection it will beunderstood that in the intravenous feeding of a patient, a tube, such asthe tube 10 having a needle, such as the needle I1, is employed toconduct the intravenous solution from the container C to the patientsvein. Thus, with the container C suspended by the tab 1, the ball checkvalve 7 will seat in the throat 8 of the discharge neck 3 of thecontainer when the container is substantially emptied, but before theinner end of the needle extends into an unfilled portion of thecontainer C, to stop further discharge of the solution from thecontainer, thereby preventing air from passing through the needle 11 andtube 10 to the patient.

Referring to FIG. 3, the tube 10 is shown as extending downwardlythrough a seal 12 in the top 13 of a storage drum 14. The drum 14contains a body of sterile water 15 adapted to be displaced through thetube 10 and the needle 11 into the container C so as to mix with the dryintravenous feeding material 9 in the latter and form the desiredintravenous feed ing solution. In order to displace the sterile water 15from the drum 14 through the tube 10, the drum 14 has a flexible bag orsack 16 in its upper portion adapted to be supplied with air underpressure through a tube 17 which leads through an appropriate fitting 18in the top 13 of the drum. As the bag 16 is inflated by the air, it willdisplace the sterile water 15 through the tube 10 and into the containerC. The lower end of the tube 10 is preferably located closely adjacentto the bottom of the drum, so that substantially all of the water in thedrum can be forced therefrom.

As an example, the drum 14 may contain sufficient sterile water to fill50 containers C. If the facility at which the containers C are to befilled has a sterile water plant, then, of course, there is no need forthe drum 14, since the container can be filled directly from the plant,the water flowing through the tube 10. However, containers orreceptacles C, together with a full drum 14, may be supplied to remotelocations, such as a field hospital in a war zone, to facilitate theintravenous feeding of patients in such an environment. It is alsoapparent that the delivery of a supply of conventional intravenousfeeding bottles may be difficult to accomplish in such locations.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the invention comprises notonly a flexible intravenous feeding container C having therein aquantity of water soluble intravenous feeding material, initiallyoccupying a small volume in the container, enabling it to be stored in aflat condition, but also includes the method of preparing intravenousfeeding containers comprising the steps of connecting a flexibleintravenous feeding container having a quantity of intravenous feedmaterial therein to a source of sterile water, and supplying from saidsource to the container a quantity of the sterile water to provide inthe container the desired quantity of intravenous feeding solution whenthe dry soluble material is contacted by the sterile water, thecontainer then being disconnected from the source.

I claim:

1. In a intravenous feeding container: a collapsible container body offlexible material adapted to occupy a substantially flat condition andto hold a quantity of intravenous feeding solution, said container bodyhaving an outlet means comprising an elongate throat member having avalve seat in its upper portion, a stopper in said outlet means adaptedto be punctured by a needle, a quantity of dry water soluble intravenousfeeding material in said container, a check valve within said containerand adapted to be buoyant in a feeding solution and engageable with saidseat to prevent the passage of air from said container when saidsolution is substantially fully drained from said container, said valveseat being substantially spaced from said stopper to prevent said checkvalve from engaging a needle as said check valve descends to engagedposition with said seat.

1. In a intravenous feeding container: a collapsible container body offlexible material adapted to occupy a substantially flat condition andto hold a quantity of intravenous feeding solution, said container bodyhaving an outlet means comprising an elongate throat member having avalve seat in its upper portion, a stopper in said outlet means adaptedto be punctured by a needle, a quantity of dry water soluble intravenousfeeding material in said container, a check valve within said containerand adapted to be buoyant in a feeding solution and engageable with saidseat to prevent the passage of air from said container when saidsolution is substantially fully drained from said container, said valveseat being substantially spaced from said stopper to prevent said checkvalve from engaging a needle as said check valve descends to engagedposition with said seat.